it takes two to fandango
by sheisthesun
Summary: Sakura seriously does not know how to deal with this awkward sickly-looking red-headed boy, especially with the Chūnin Exams coming up. All she wanted to do was get Sasuke-kun's attention and show Ino who the dominant kunoichi was. Was that too much to ask? AU, OOC.


**_Warnings: OOC. AU. Swearing. Gaara/Sakura. Yeah. _**

* * *

_"That hurt, you little piece of shit._"

* * *

Sakura did _not_ know what to do.

As the cat-eared, face-painted teenager lifted Konohamaru by the front of his scarf, Sakura immediately froze in her spot. Eyes of emerald widening profusely, the sounds of Naruto's annoyed and angered calls fell deaf upon her ears. That guy―the one holding Konohamaru―did _not_ look amused, nor did he look like he had the intention of letting Konohamaru down and making his merry way towards wherever the heck he was headed to.

An unfamiliar voice then spoke, deep and past the point of puberty and then and there Sakura knew it was the one who held tightly to the squirming Konohamaru.

"Y' know..." He spoke, head tilting to the side in a child-like manner―but Sakura knew deep in her gut that he was just mocking them, and she did not take well to that one bit―as he sent a false thoughtful glance between her and Naruto and the kid in his hands.

And then the corners of his lips turned upward into a twisted smirk and Sakura―her eyes growing wider and wider with each second, something twisting and turning and screaming in her gut that this was _not_ good―immediately tensed, a hand clenched at her chest.

"I_ hate_ kids."

Breath hitching, she registered the malice behind those three words. Red flags popped up in her mind, telling her that t_his guy was dangerous, that this guy could be bad, that this guy should _not_ be messed with,_ but her blonde-haired companion beside her did not―and when she meant 'did not,' she really meant that _there was nothing, absolutely nothing at all_―have a brain. Therefore, he did what he did best: yell at the top of his lungs until something happened.

"HEY! Let him go, you clown-faced, cat-wannabe lunatic!"

"Tch."

The accused boy sent a sneer in her teammates direction and Sakura cautiously pulled on the back of Naruto's collar before he could ram his head into the opposing boy's gut.

"Sakura-chan! Why did you do that?! I can take him on, let me go!"

Sakura shook her head for a moment before deciding that this was _her_ fault, that the reason that Konohamaru was being yanked up two feet above the ground was because _she_ decided to chase them around. So she took a deep breath, let a hesitant and nervous smile form on her face, and told herself that it was better her than the Hokage's grandson.

"Uhm, it...it was my fault," she said, genuine beads of cold sweat running down her temple. Flinching when the boy ahead of her cracked an eye open to gaze at her through his profile, she continued after a few beats of hesitation. "I was just playing around...I didn't mean for it to get out of hand. I-I'm sorry...!"

Through her peripheral vision, she could see the flash of rage behind Naruto's sky blue eyes before he yanked out of her grip, knuckles clenching and face twisted in angry confusion.

"Sakura...that douche-face has Konohamaru and you're just going to―"

Before she could send a scowl in his direction (because really, Naruto was beginning to be a pain in her ass and _why can't he get it through his thick skull that she wanted to make sure this ended without any punches and kicks being thrown_), a small, mocking laugh was heard. Both her and Naruto's head whipped to the side to see the black-clad inclining his head in her direction.

A somewhat lazy smirk was evident as he drawled teasingly, "No need to apologize, cutie. You weren't the one to rudely run into me without even so much as an 'excuse me,' so I'll let you off the hook."

Despite the fact that he had just called her cute, (_why did she always attract the weird ones?_ First Naruto, now this assface; why couldn't it just be _Sasuke-kun_ for once, dammit!) she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Beside her, Naruto pointed an accusing finger towards the taller boy, brow furrowed and teeth bared.

"OI, FATASS! Don't call Sakura-chan cute, you slimy pervert!"

"_Naruto,_" she cut him off with a sharp hiss because she really wasn't in the mood to deal with his stupid ass―especially since he had just implied that _no_, Sakura _was not_ cute and therefore no one should use that compliment. It took a few moments before realization dawned on the blonde's face.

"S-Sakura-chan―"

He started speaking in an attempt to correct himself, and she was pretty sure he could sense the incoming punch/strangle-hold/groin-kick coming his way by the way the temperature around them decreased.

"Hahahahahah...S-Sakura-chan, I didn't mean that! I just worded it wrong―you're really, really, really cute, I swear! You're actually really pretty, pretty enough to be on the front of those books that Kakashi-sensei reads..."

Naruto's rambling was really beginning to piss her off, and before he could get another word out of his stupid mouth, she wrapped her arms around his neck in an amateur chokehold and squeezed as tight as she could, brow knitted in sheer rage and annoyance.

"SHUT UP, YOU DUMBASS!"

Hopefully, if she was lucky enough, a few of his blood vessel would pop.

"S-Sa―SAKURA-CHAN I CAN'T BREATHE LET GO LET GO! UNCLE, UNCLE, TAP OUT, LET ME TAP OUT―"

Before he could faint from the lack of blood circulation to his practically non-existent brain, she roughly shoved him aside. Sending a sharp glare towards him that said 'if you come any closer I swear to god I'll rip your limbs out and use them to bludgeon you to death', she then turned her attention back towards the older ninja.

Taking a step forward, she pleaded, "Please, it wasn't his fault! If you want someone to blame, then blame me―"

Her plea was cut off with a small shake of the teen's head.

"Like I said, cutie, you're off the hook. Besides," he paused. At that moment, she froze in complete and utter terror when his limp arm suddenly rose, hands balling into a tight fist. She could hear his knuckles crack ominously despite the distance between them. "I don't hit girls."

A gasp escaped her lips. _Did that mean―_

Before the tall teen could even pull his fist back, the blonde haired girl interrupted him with a sharp jab to his ribs.

"Kankuro..."

"Come on Temari," the teen shot the older girl a dirty look, fist dropping almost immediately. "I just wanted to have some fun before _you-know-who_ shows up."

"'You-know-who...?'" Sakura didn't mean for that to come out, but sometimes she could speak before she could even comprehend what she was going to say. And oh how she hated it.

"Nothin' you should worry about, sweet cheeks."

Cue the cheeky smirk that was sent her way and the exaggerated eye roll from the blonde-haired girl named Temari.

Sakura felt flattered (although she had her suspicions that the 'cutie' amd the 'sweet cheeks' were simply a way to mock her) but at that point, the pinkette wondered if she should stay or march over there and give him a good slug to his pansy-painted face. Black and blue would definitely match with that purple paint, and she was more than willing to get the job done.

"Kankuro," Temari spoke once again, annoyance and caution lacing her voice. Giving a small jab to the taller boy―Kankuro, she assumed―with a look of distaste, she jerked her head in Sakura and Naruto's direction. "You know now isn't the time to be toying around with these pipsqueaks."

"And you know that I hate midgets and rude little shits," he countered with a smug look. His gaze then traveled to the Konohamaru, the fist that gripped his scarf tightening considerably. Sakura froze, and from her spot, she felt Naruto stiffen beside her. "Now, I especially hate rude little shit-midgets―I have little patience for them."

Kankuro smirked. "Makes me want to _kill_ them, y' know?"

Konohamaru let out a yelp when he was suddenly lifted higher, now eye-to-eye level with Kankuro. Through the corner of her eye, Naruto seemed to break out of his stupor and voiced his outrage.

"HEY! If you touch Konohamaru, I swear to god I'll―"

"Wait your turn, shortstack! I'll get to you once I'm finished with this little asshole!"

Naruto's cry of 'hey!' went unheard as Kankuro pulled his fist back once more. Next to him, the older girl sighed and shook her head. "I had no part in this..."

She didn't bother stopping Naruto from charging off towards the black-clad teen; she knew Naruto would do more damage than her, anyway.

_You're worse than Naruto._

Sasuke was right.

All she could do now was watch the scene unfold.

But before Kankuro's fist connect with the soft flesh of Konohamaru's cheek, something whizzed in the air and hit the target it was aimed at―the hand that gripped Konohamaru's scarf. With a dull 'THUMP,' the 8-year-old landed on his butt, and did not hesitate to scramble away towards Naruto after realizing he was now free. Sakura watched as the teen grimaced in pain, his uninjured hand cradling his wrist.

"What the..." His sentence trailed off, eyes raking up towards the tree behind the fence. His eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing in our village?"

_T-That voice!_ Sakura immediately straightened up and in a flash her emerald eyes were focused solely on the person sitting atop the tree's high branches. The slouched posture, the aura that screamed 'yeah I'm hot and cool deal with it loser,' the black hair, the onyx eyes, the blue high-collared blouse, _the everything_―she melted in her spot, hearts in her eyes and legs feeling like jelly.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

Her squeal went ignored, but she was absolutely fine with that. She was used to that anyway; it didn't matter, though, because _Sasuke-kun_ was here, and she knew _her_ Sasuke-kun would save the day because he was, well, _Sasuke-kun_! Need she say more?

"Tch."

Her attention snapped to Kankuro, who had recovered from the stinging sensation on his wrist. A snarl from the older boy was heard as he ripped the large object that was hanging on his back off of him. Sakura gulped.

His voice was laced with annoyance as he spoke. "I hate show-offs like you the most. Get down here so that I can beat that face if your's, pretty boy!"

"You're not actually going to use Crow, are you?!"

Temari's tone held warning, but Sakura knew that Kankuro paid no heed.

The look on his face was purely concentrated on the nonchalant Uchiha. The tension in the hair was thick, so thick that Naruto could probably bite a huge chunk of it off, and she knew that something was about to go down. Her gaze traveled between Sasuke and Kankuro, analyzing the situation in front of her. Neither moved; they simply stared each other down.

"Kankuro? Temari?"

The voice was unfamiliar to her and she knew that it did not belong to Kankuro or Temari. But when she looked around, she did not find an extra person with them, nor behind them. But when she looked up towards Sasuke, her eyes went wide in realization as her brain registered the dark looming presence behind him.

Sasuke seemed to notice as well, and immediately whipped his head to see the perpetrator behind him, onyx eyes as wide as her's.

She gulped.

_Even Sasuke hadn't noticed him._

The person―_boy_, she corrected herself in shock when she took in his short stature and lanky form―stood on the branch above Sasuke, practically hidden by the leaves. His hands were tugging on the large strap across his chest, fidgeting with it all the while adjusting the large gourd (gourd, _a gourd_; is that sort of fashion statement nowadays?) that rested upon his back. His hair was a peculiar shade of red, short and unruly and lightly swaying in the gentle Konoha breeze. He was pale, maybe even paler than Sasuke's pale, with unblemished skin.

He lacked eyebrows though. Which was weird. Really weird. Despite his lack of eyebrows, she could tell that he looked a bit troubled, as the way his brow knitted and his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip gave it away.

The most notable trait about him though, Sakura surmised as she gave him another once-over from head to toe, were the dark rings around his pale turquoise eyes. They were really thick, and she didn't understand why someone would even put that much eyeliner on. _Huh. Weird..._

"Oh, great! Just freaking great!"

Kankuro's tired voice reached her ears, pulling her out of her analyzing. Emerald eyes traveled to the teen, watching him as his shoulders sagged in―disappointment? Kankuro's palm made contact with his face, and he slowly dragged it down as a groan rumbled in the back of his throat.

He sent an accusing glance to the blonde-haired girl to his side.

"Are you happy now, Temari? Party-McPooper-Pants is here―are you satisfied?"

"I'm satisfied whenever you're not so shut up," she shot, hands on her hips. She then looked at the boy in the tree with an eyebrow raised. "Gaara, you're late. Care to explain why it took you so long to find us?"

There was a moment of hesitance before the red head responded, voice small.

"I...I got lost..."

"Gaara, you're an idiot." Sakura watched as Kankuro's face once again came in contact with his palm.

"Ever heard of using a map? Or tracking our chakra? Or maybe even contacting Yashamaru-sensei? How you even managed to find us is a mystery to me―"

He wasn't able to complete his sentence. A sharp and probably painful jab to his ribs sent Kankuro swearing, hands delicately rubbing the spot where Temari has oh-so-kindly elbowed him.

"What the hell was that for, Temari?!"

Ignoring him, she shook her head and rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the quiet boy, the small jerk of her head indicating him to come down from his spot. "Come on, Gaara."

The red-headed boy―Gaara, she mentally took note―nodded once, but not before turning towards the cautious-looking Uchiha and giving him a small, somewhat apologetic nod. She watched with a furrowed brow as Sasuke narrowed his eyes; he remained in his sitting position the whole time, an elbow resting on his knee.

"Sorry for the trouble that was caused..."

Sasuke did not reply. He simply stared at the red-headed boy for a few moments before scoffing and jumping down from his perch on the branch. Sakura instantly perked up once Sasuke landed, intent on clinging to his arm and praising him on his cool disposition, but then remembered the words that he had said to her previously.

_You're worse than Naruto._

_Weak. Weak. Weak._

She stopped herself from taking another step closer.

After one last wistful glance at the nonchalant Uchiha, she tore her gaze away and instead focused on the two teens ahead of them.

It only took a few moments before the two turned to three, the third member of their team transporting from his own spot onto the tree and in between Kankuro and Temari with a small 'poof.' Once the smoke cleared from his form, it was only then Sakura took full notice of his appearance, drowning out the conversation that Temari, Kankuro, Naruto, and Sasuke were having (something about exams? She'd just ask her teammates about it later).

Everything about this Gaara kid screamed 'AWKWARD!_ AWKWARD!_' He was the shortest of his team, being at least a head shorter than Kankuro. He may even be shorter than her! But Sakura noted the way he stood, one arm limp at his side while other rubbed his elbow.

He took a step back without a word, letting his teammates do the talking while he stood wordlessly. Chin down, his eyes barely make eye contact with anyone and instead concentrated on the floor; if he did make eye contact, it wouldn't be held more than five or six seconds before dropping back down to the ground.

At that moment, though, he decided to look up.

Pale turquoise met emerald green.

And Sakura could not be more uncomfortable.

She was expecting him to be the first to break eye contact after the fifth or sixth second, but then he _didn't_―he simply continued staring. At her._ Directly at her._ With no eyebrows to indicate his facial expression, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. And it bothered her―especially because his eyes were big and wide and just staring intently at her. After the thirty second mark, she shifted uncomfortably.

_This was...weird..._

"...so we should get going. C' mon guys, let's―Gaara?"

All conversation around her quieted and died down until it was completely quiet. Before she knew it, both teams began to glance between both her and Gaara, and yet she still found herself unable to look away.

_Why?_ Why couldn't she look away?

A part of her told her it was because he looked shy and that she wanted to know what made him think. The irrational part of her told her it was because she unconsciously wanted to become the best of the best in the art of staring. She hoped it was the latter, because there was _no_ way she was going anywhere near him.

"Gaara."

Temari's voice was assertive, intent on bringing him back down from where he had drifted off to, but no such luck. When he failed to respond to her waving hand in his face, Her brow furrowed in suspicion as she narrowed her eyes at the person he was staring at.

_Her._

Sakura swallowed hard once the hardened eyes of the older girl landed on her. It was only then Sakura looked away from the red-headed boy, and instead focused her attention to Temari, who looked none-too-pleased with the little staring contest Sakura and Gaara had. Well, the staring contest that _Sakura_ had―a stolen glance at Gaara showed that he was still staring at her, eyes concentrated on her very form.

The blonde kunoichi did not look amused. Kankuro, on the other hand, had his head cocked to the side, staring back and forth between Sakura and Gaara, brow knitted in utter confusion.

But after a few more back-and-forth glances between the two, his face suddenly lit up in realization. A snort escaped him along with a few laughs before he shook his head, palm coming in contact with his face for the third time that day.

"Oh my god...no freaking way...!"

He snorted a few more times, shoulders shaking, and soon enough, he could not contain the laughter that was building inside him and spontaneously erupted in fits of snorts and laughter. The older female's gaze snapped to him, a look of incredulity crossing her face.

"What? Kankuro, you ass, what the hell is so funny?"

"Oh―! This is p..._priceless_...!"

He could not contain himself, and instead turned around, practically doubling over at the pain of laughing so hard. He couldn't even stand straight―he simply continued laughing, then staggering to the side to lean against the fence with a hand gripping his stomach because _god damn_ whatever the hell he was laughing at was _so damn funny._

Bemused at both Kankuro's actions and Sakura's _supposed_ actions, Temari glared at the pinkette, the growl that emanated from her having Sakura's tail between her legs. "What did you do to him?!"

Sasuke stiffened beside her and took a step forward. Sakura would have been flattered (because this was her _Sasuke-kun_, being the white knight in shining armor coming to her rescue!) if not for the situation at hand. She didn't even know what the heck the situation was! Staring at people wasn't a crime, was it?!

"I didn't do anything!" She squeaked, taking a step back. Her hands were up in her defense. "I swear! We were just―he was just―"

At that moment, after three minutes of endless glances between the red-headed boy and Sakura, Naruto's form tensed, brow furrowing, before he jumped from his spot next to Konohamaru and his friends to point his finger at Gaara. The blonde-haired boy let out a loud 'OI!' catching the attention of Temari, Sasuke, and Sakura.

"OI! PERIOD-HEAD! STOP STARING AT SAKURA-CHAN LIKE THAT, SHE DOESN'T LIKE BEING STARED AT AS IF SHE WERE A BOWL OF HOT, STEAMING MISO RAMEN!"

Naruto placed his hands on his hips, letting out a small 'tch' before continuing to broadcast his irritation to the whole village. "YEAH SHE'S HOT, BUT SHE'S NOT RAMEN, AND RAMEN'S GOOD, AND...and...but...uh...BUT YEAH, STOP STARING AT HER!"

His bold declaration received various responses. Temari looked utterly disgusted―and _horrified_―at the name the blonde boy had called Gaara, and was too dumbfounded for her mouth to form words. Sasuke looked like he wanted to smack his face on the pavement multiple times because _what the hell Naruto_.

And Sakura―Sakura just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Both Sakura and Sasuke buried their face in their hands, silently wondering _why, why Naruto, why was he so stupid, why why why._

The silence was interrupted by Kankuro, who simply laughed even harder, a hand slapping his knee as he doubled over.

At that exact moment, Gaara blinked. Sakura noticed and her gaze snapped to him, eyebrows practically raised to her hairline and once again, turquoise met emerald. But instead of continuing to stare at her, his eyes went wide―as if in horrified realization―and quickly dropped his gaze to his feet, face hidden from view. His whole form became tense after that, hands glued to his sides as they gripped his pants.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at his actions. "Eh...?"

Temari seemed to notice Gaara's movement, and she let her concerned and confusion (yet Sakura could still see traces of horror and disgust in her eyes) gaze land on his still form. She took a step closer.

"Gaara?" She said cautiously, but the sound of Kankuro's loud guffaws drowned her out.

"Gaara―"

"HAHAHAHAAAAA! I―I _CAN'T_ AHAHAHAHA―I C-CAN'T..._B-BREATH_...!"

"Gaara, are you alright―"

"AHHAHAAHAHA OH MY GOD WHY ISN'T ANYONE RECORDING THIS? HAAHAAHAHAHA!"

"Gaa―"

"HEEEEEHAHAHAHOOHOO AUUGHAAHAHA!"

"―ra―"

"IT―AHAHAHAHA―_IT HURTS S-SO MUCH_...! AHAHAHAAAA―"

The laughter was cut short when Temari punched him hard on the back of the head, sending his face careening towards the dirt. Sakura heard a faint 'OOMPH!' and a grunt from the older kunoichi as she gave the black-clad teen a hard kick to his side for good measure. Brow furrowed in frustration and lips pulled back into a scowl, she shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"I swear to god Kankuro, if you don't shut the hell up and help me with Gaara, I'm going to shank you with the heavy end of my fan!"

She nudged him harshly with the tip of her sandals as he struggled to push himself off of the ground. "What the hell is so funny, anyway?"

As Kankuro slowly, slowly picked himself off of the ground, all―including Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura―perked their ears to hear what he had to say. Sakura was more curious than the rest because she was sure the reason included her, since Gaara was staring at her and whatnot. She demanded an answer.

But once the teen was up and standing, he gestured for Temari to come close and cupped his hand around her ear to whisper whatever the hell he was laughing about. All who were awaiting the answer groaned in dejection (well, mostly her and Naruto; Sasuke just sort of narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms and stood there like the hunk of hot he was), shoulders sagging. Sakura, though, felt irritation gnawing at her stomach.

_Just what was so funny? What if it was a joke about her forehead or something?_

The pinkette bristled at that thought, teeth gritting and hands clenching at her sides. _Why she outta―_

But before she could do anything, Temari jerked away from Kankuro with narrowed eyes, disbelieving. Slowly, slowly, Sakura watched as the blonde kunoichi shifted her gaze between both her and Gaara, more so on her. At that moment, Sakura felt very insecure and small under the older girl's scrutinizing gaze. Unconsciously, she fiddled with a lock of her pink hair and switched her gaze to the ground in front of her.

"You can't be serious, Kankuro."

"Oh, but I am. Trust me, Temari―I've been crushing on girls all my life, and I know that look anywhere."

Sakura reeled back in offense; _crushing?_ Who the heck was crushing on who here? _Did they know of her crush on Sasuke-kun?_ She bit her lip.

"I don't believe you." With that, the blonde girl turned around and took a small step towards Gaara, brow furrowed. "Gaara, do you mind explaining your strange behavior?"

He didn't respond. Sakura began to wonder _what_ was wrong with him, and _why_ was he so tense and _why_ was he just standing there, but then his sudden movement startled her. A few moments after Temari had called his name, he had hastily pivoted on his heel in the direction opposite from where Team 7 stood at. Back straight, head down, hands gripping the sides of his pants; he was quick, practically rushing out of there.

He was already turning at the corner before anyone could react.

Temari was the first to break out of her stupor and called out to him, albeit a bit concerned. Sending a sharp gaze to Kankuro, she jerked her head in the direction Gaara had left in with a small 'come on' before taking off herself, not before sending another disbelieving glance at Sakura. Kankuro was right at her heels, and had sent a smirk in Sakura's direction before following his sister. They were gone before anyone could blink.

And as their disappearance sunk in, Sakura let out a breath she had unknowingly been holding in. Her tense shoulders relaxed. _Well that was...interesting..._

Although, she sincerely hoped that she'd never run into them again. _Ever._

"Psh, they didn't even ask for our names―_my_ name!"

Naruto's obnoxious 'harrumph' reached her ears and with that, she shook her head, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she noticed Sasuke had gone missing. Looking in the opposite direction if where the Sand shinobi had left just moments ago, she spotted the oh-so-familiar Uchiha crest silently walking away, hands buried deep in the white pockets of his shorts.

Sakura felt the instinctive urge to yell out his name and chase after him in hopes of a date, but she knew better.

_You're weak. Worse than Naruto._

She stopped herself. There other things to worry about, anyway.

Her gaze traveled to the corner where the red-headed kid had left moments ago. Brow knitting, she replayed the image of him suddenly turning on his heel and rushing off, head down. She couldn't see his face but she did notice the shade of red the tips of his ears and the back of his neck had been. And it bothered her for some reason.

But for now, she brushed it off. Turning around, she decided that maybe going home would be the best option in order to forget about what had happened. Naruto's booming voice reached her ears but she blatantly disregarded it in hopes of getting home quicker. She sighed, shoulders slumping as the pinkette ran a hand through her hair.

She was too tired to notice the grains of sand that had stuck to her palm as she made her way home.

* * *

_-nervous laughter-_

_I should really finish my other stories first...uhm. I do apologize for the lack of activity. I've just been in a rut lately, and hopefully I can overcome it by the time June is finished! Other than that, this little plot bunny has been hopping around lately and I decided, eh, why the hell not. _

_So I wrote it out. Not really knowing where I'm going with this, but I'm just going to go with it anyway. It'll probably be just a few chapters, no more that four or five. Like I said, I have no idea where this is going so yeah._

_Thanks for reading! c:_

(I do not own Naruto―I simply make fanfiction for it.)


End file.
